handmade by stefanie

I have a vague recollection of reading something about how some US textile mills began supplying yarn for the manufacturing of baseballs as a way to survive when production moved overseas, but I was still surprised and delighted to see this display during a recent visit to the Royals Hall of Fame : Who knew that there were THREE different kinds of yarn inside every baseball ?! Turns out, the construction of a baseball is a very precise science  - and yes, each yarn has exact specifications for fiber content and constructions that must be met . While I was doing a little more research about the yarn-baseball link, I turned up this really cool blog post about a visit to one of the very mills that produces yarn for Major League Baseball , and I also discovered a short-lived team call the Lowell Spinners , which is worth reading about. You never know where yarn or fiber will pop up next!

I know I haven't been blogging as much as I used to, but I don't want to get out of the habit since it's something I've always enjoyed doing. I've been working on a lot of long-term projects (some of which are secret) and haven't had an FO in quite some time, so that made it easy to skip Friday posts...and then I didn't want to keep posting the same projects with very little noticeable progress each Wednesday - basically, it was a slippery slope. Anyway, I thought it would be fun to start sharing what's new/interesting/noteworthy, especially when I don't have a finished project to share. For example, here's what's been tickling my fancy lately: Enamel Pins Has anyone else noticed the enamel pin craze ? I've been following this trend for a while (mostly on Instgram) but only recently hopped on the bandwagon. I was super excited when one of my clients, Bijou Basin Ranch, came out with a cute Yak Knitting enamel pin earlier this month ...

These past few weeks have been more exciting than usual here in Chicago, and I've been trying like mad to get the goofy "Go Cubs Go" song out of my head. It's unavoidable here since the Cubs won the World Series (and, let's face it - for the entirety of the postseason). While my parents were in town, we made the pilgrimage to Wrigleyville to get a taste of those wonderful postseason vibes. I'd heard that people had been leaving their well wishes in chalk on the brick walls surrounding Wrigley Field, and the rumors were true! There was also an enterprising soul offering photo ops with Millie the Good Luck  Goat (if you're not aware of all the crazy goat-related superstition previously held by Cubs fans, click here ), which I couldn't resist. See! We're getting into knitting-related territory, so hang with me! The true delight came when we walked around to the main marquee on Clark & Addison: No, I don't mean that - though ...